Welcome to Wine Selectors’ celebration of all things wine and chocolate!

This issue will help you get creative at home with some Wine and Chocolate matching, let you know about the latest wine and chocolate Member events, plus tell you about Zema Estates’ Coonawarra wine and chocolate winter special. If you’re after a wine perfect for winter and chocolate then you won’t be able to go past our Centre Stage Shiraz article, or if you are after something even more indulgent, we shine a light on our Hidden Treasures limited release wines from the Wine Selectors cellar. Enjoy!

Wine and chocolate matching is like walking the streets of Paris for the first time. It is a passionate affair filled with decadent aromas and flavours. Follow these three simple guidelines to transport your tastebuds and ignite the passionate flavours of wine enjoyed alongside chocolate.

The first and easiest rule to remember is the wine should be sweeter than the chocolate you are matching it with. For example, a bold, ripe red will not fare well alongside a sweet white chocolate. For white chocolate you should be leaning towards a Moscato for instance. Big reds tend to need dark chocolate.

Lesson 2.

High quality chocolate is very important. Poorer quality chocolates tend to have loads of added sugar and oils that can really play havoc with the taste of the wine. Look for chocolates that have a high cacao count like 50-85%. Chocolates like this will provide well-balanced bitterness to bring out the natural characteristics of the wine and actually enhance the flavours, not work against them.

Lesson 3.

Experiment with the flavours. Why not buy a whole range of different chocolate styles, open up your favourite drop and see what the different chocolate flavours do to the aromas, tastes and overall appeal of your wine. You’ll be really surprised how the fruits can change and tannins react differently.

Francesca, Demetrio & Chocolate

Zema Estate is the result of the love between Francesca and Demetrio. Their early romance was tested when Francesca’s family moved to Australia in the early 1950s to escape the aftermath of the war and give their family a fresh start. But Demetrio needed little convincing to uproot his life at home to reunite with his soul mate and follow both families’ long-standing relationship with wine in South Australia.

Demetrio’s great grandfather Matteo had actually opened the first wine bar in Calabria back in 1835 and Francesca’s father had started working at Wynns hand pruning the vines and picking the fruit soon after his arrival in Australia. Life, love and family ensued, and finally in the early 80s Zema Estate was founded on a prime piece of Coonawarra’s terra rossa soil.

Zema Estate’s handcrafted quality wines are renowned for displaying intense rich fruit flavours, excellent varietal definition and great elegance and balance – which just happens to be the perfect starting point when matching wine with chocolate. If you happen to be travelling through the Coonawarra wine region this winter, it’s the perfect time to stop by Zema Estate’s cellar door between 9am and 5pm for a little bit of wine and chocolate indulgence! From now until the end of August you can explore how different types of chocolate with varying percentages of cocoa, complement different varieties of red wine: Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet Merlot. Delicious!

A dark, rich and delicious relationship

Getting a great Shiraz and chocolate match isn’t difficult if you have great wines to choose from and of course some premium chocolate. A successful Shiraz with chocolate match requires a youthful, rich and fruit forward Shiraz that isn’t too mature or doesn’t display too much pepper and spice. Then grab yourself some really good quality dark chocolate, like Lindt, and you’re set. It really is that easy and delicious – well mostly. It may still require a little bit of fun experimentation.

To really get your tastebuds going and try matching Shiraz and chocolate for yourself, the Centre Stage Shiraz selection in our latest catalogue Vino Spectacular is the perfect place to start. The pack includes three Shiraz from the stellar regions of McLaren Vale and Yarra Valley. Then as a delicious comparison there are three blends – Shiraz Viognier, Shiraz Cabernet Merlot and Shiraz Grenache – from Mt Benson, Coonawarra and Barossa Valley.

Next it is down to the shops to stock up on some premium quality dark chocolate. We’d recommend starting with the Lindt Excellence range of dark chocolates as they generally have a high cacao content and low sugar levels – perfect for red wines! The Lindt Excellence dark chocolates are available as 85% Cacao, 50% Cacao, or with orange, raspberry, blueberry, caramel, sea salt and more.

Once you have tried out your own combinations at home, we’d love to hear from you to let us know what your favourite combination was. Enjoy!

Limited Releases!

Now is the perfect time to spoil yourself with some limited releases from the Wine Selectors’ Cellar. We’ve unearthed some stars with distinction that represent the pinnacle of Australian winemaking from lauded brands that are trusted and loved. You can add some serious quality to your wine collection with six hidden treasures you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

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